The Phoenix Project (24 page)

    
“The Ferine delegates, not Josh and Eli.”

    
“I know,” Nadine said with a sigh. “Yeah, I
know.”

    
“Can we start here?”

    
“What?” Nadine asked.

    
“Peace or at least a truce?”

    
“I suppose so.”

    
“Good enough for me. Cheers to that,” Madison said, raising her
glass. Nadine revealed teeth in a warmer smile and clinked her glass with Madison’s. “Now, how much
do you think my husband’s lost by now?”

    
“I think he’s the one being swindled.”

    
“Want to see an Alliance officer lose his shirt?” Madison asked.

    
“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Nadine said.
She left the couch with Madison
and entered the dining area.

    
Having ambassadors assigned to a fleet vessel in the Alliance was, at first, a
temporary measure of necessity to transport them to Earth. However, the
changing political landscape planet side warranted the need to have a mobile
platform for the off—world delegates. Given the requirement to attend hearings
and the need for security against any civilian who may take their own measures
to punish the defendants, it was necessary to have a hostel in space. The most
prudent measure was to house them on a military vessel full of human beings
trained to obey orders.

    
Many have debated the wisdom
of keeping them on an Alliance
vessel rather than a Coalition ship.

The First Contact Hearings

 
by Anne Forrest

Chapter IX

The Alliance officers retired
late at night and allowed themselves the luxury of an extra hour’s sleep. Ranik
and Lathiel, they learned, required only a few hours of rest a night. Joshua,
Madison, and Elliot had stayed until midnight and left knowing they could sleep
until eight am at the latest. Joshua was smiling despite his loss of nearly one
hundred dollars which Ranik accepted, although he could think of little use for
their money.

    
The two alien hosts retained Nadine as
their charge with the guard continuing his assignment outside the door. She
continued her conversation with them for a couple more hours having moved from
the temporary poker table and back into the living room. Nadine sipped the
warmth of the Ruby Brandy as Ranik regaled her with tales of the unique beauty
of their home world and the ferocity of their approaching enemy. With a genuine
sadness, Nadine excused herself from the room at two in the morning shaking
both her host’s hands. She slipped her uncomfortable shoes back on and exited
their quarters to find a new guard ready to follow her back to her quarters,
having changed shifts with his predecessor.

    
Nadine greeted him with a smile from the
warm buzz of the Ferine’s liquor and sauntered back to her quarters a ways down
the hallway. For the first time in years she had felt truly at ease with
someone. Both Ranik and Lathiel were gentlemen,
“Gentlecats”
she thought
as a correction. The new moniker made her release a slight giggle as she
approached her quarters. The guard’s eyebrows were raised as she walked through
the doorway.

    
“Night Ma’am,” the armed guard said with an
appreciative smile of her formfitting dress.

    
“Goodnight, Major,” she replied as the
doors closed behind her.

    
She slipped off her dress and lay in bed. Nadine
closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep, unmarred by nightmares for the
first time in years.
She was torn from her long awaited, sound sleep two
hours early by the chirping of her communications console. The one embedded in
the wall was dark, and as silent as it had been since the moment she had
arrived. It was far too likely it may have some hidden device that would allow
the bridge to monitor her communications with the Coalition. A mobile console provided
by her nation glowed on the kitchen table as it beeped an incoming signal. She
lazily got out of bed and walked to the machine. She punched in her
confirmation code and waited as a blue light in the top corner of the breadbox
sized module lit up and scanned her. The light disappeared and written
instructions popped out of its top on a programmable link to be destroyed as
soon as she read it.

    
She pulled the link from the slot of the
black machine once it finished programming the paper thin technology. She read
the orders carefully and felt her shoulders balk from the weight of the
instructions.

    
And things were going so well.

    
Within a short time Elliot would receive
the same information and see the whole of last night’s experience in their
quarters as a ruse to lull them into complacency. She erased the link, crumpled
it up, and threw it to the ground.

    
Without bothering with a shower, as her
time was short, Nadine pulled on a uniform from the closet in her bedroom. She
hurried in the dark to make herself ready. Nadine briefly fixed her hair and
strode towards the imposing exit of her quarters.
   

    
The guard hurried to keep up with her as
she flew towards the Ferine’s quarters. Her walk to and from their quarters had
taken only a few minutes the previous evening, but today she made it in less
than sixty seconds. She pressed the bell with her thumb and waited a few
moments before pressing the button again under added pressure. After a minute,
Lathiel stood behind a sliding door. A look of interrupted sleep was on his
face.

    
“Yes?” he asked, his eyes squinting in the
light. He was tying the belt to a bathrobe supplied by the Alliance which was too small for him, having
been made for Humans. The robe came down to a position six inches above his
knees. She repressed a momentary shock at the lithe, spotted body that he
quickly covered with the robe.

    
“Lathiel.”

    
“Nadine? It’s a little early for
refreshments.”

    
“I’m not here for that.”

    
“No?” Ranik inquired from behind his cousin.
He hefted a thick bathrobe onto his striped shoulders.

    
“No Ranik, I’ve received new orders and I
think you should be aware of them. I wanted to tell you immediately,” she
said.

    
“Your nation has made Ruby Brandy illegal?”
Ranik joked.

    
“It should be, but I am serious about this.
The Coalition, my nation, is demanding an inquiry.”

    
“An inquiry?” Lathiel asked.

    
“It is a request by my superiors to
determine the extent of the Ferine government’s involvement in the events that
culminated in the loss of the Moon and the affected region on Earth.”

    
“As I understand, the consequences to your
government were minimal. Shouldn’t the Alliance
be doing this?” Ranik asked.

    
“Probably, but we did lose resources on the
Moon. I didn’t recommend this, but these are my orders.”

    
“I thought something like this would
happen,” Lathiel said.

    
“I am sorry.”

    
“It’s okay,” Lathiel said to reassure her.

    
“It will take at least three weeks to put the
trial together so you do have time to prepare,” Nadine said.

    
“It’s alright. Do your duty,” Ranik said
taking her hand in his. She held his hand for a moment before releasing it.

    
“Delegates of the Ferine,” she said casting
her gaze to the floor, “you are requested to attend a formal hearing to
determine the extent of your involvement
 
in the events leading to the destruction of
Earth’s satellite as well as the destruction of approximately eight hundred
thousand square miles of Earth’s soil.”

    
“We accept,” Lathiel said, shoulder to
shoulder with his family.

    
“Thank—you,” Nadine said.

    
A figure of a man emerged into the hallway
and hurried towards the trio at a frenzied pace. Ranik covered her hand with
both of his as Elliot approached them at a furious pace.

    
“How dare you!”

    
“It is the right of the Coalition to demand
an inquiry, Admiral,” she said to his fury, “even if I don’t agree with their
decision.”

    
“Bullshit! You did this, all of this, on
purpose.”

    
“I assure you, I have not.”

    
“Treat them like friends and then stab them
in the back, just like a Coalition officer.”

    
“I was unaware of this. I only got the link
a few minutes ago,” she said.

    
“It was our loss, Nadine. Where do you get
off accusing them of these crimes? This incident affected us, not you.”

    
“There is no policy regarding legislation
against extraterrestrials,” she said.

    
“A perfect loophole for you to exploit!”

    
“This will be a fair hearing where I am
sure the Ferine will be exonerated.”

    
“Elliot, we accepted the request for a
hearing. It is judicious considering the circumstances,” Lathiel said.

    
“I assure you, you will keep both your
current lodgings and freedom,” Nadine said to the Ferine.

    
“Until you dispense more demands,” Elliot said.

    
“You are so pigheaded!”

    
Ranik interrupted the two officers before
they could continue sparring.

    
“Both of you, get a bed!” Ranik said to a
look of repulsion from both of them. “Lathiel and I have agreed to the inquiry,
Elliot. If you have a problem with it, get your government to have a
representative appointed.”

    
“I’ll do better than that,” Elliot said to
Nadine’s flustered look. “There may be no mutual agreements regarding
extraterrestrials but there are regarding extraordinary events. The hearing
will have a member of the Alliance
on the board.”

    
“There will be twelve members on the board
of inquiry,” Nadine said, crossing her arms.

    
“Six of them will be Alliance dignitaries.”

    
“Three.”

    
“Six,” Elliot reiterated.

    
“It won’t happen with six. My government
would resort to a war first.”

    
“Then what?” he demanded.

    
“I can probably pull off five.”

    
“Five is not even enough to hang the vote.”

    
“I am aware of that Admiral, but at least
it will happen that way,” she said. “I am open to other suggestions.”

    
“Full media coverage. The public
will
see this.”

    
“All citizens in the Coalition will see
it.”

    
“On both sides. You can’t have your cake
and eat it, too.”

    
“Fine,” she conceded.

    
“The Ferine delegates will stay with us
during the proceedings.”

    
“And I will stay on as an envoy,” Nadine stated.

    
“Fine.”

    
She nodded towards him and looked back to
her friends. “I am sorry about this, I didn’t want it.”

    
“I know, Nadine,” Lathiel said.

    
“Please accept my apologies.”

    
“We already have,” Ranik said.

    
Nadine nodded politely to her friends and
gave a momentary glance to Elliot before plodding back to her quarters.

    
“You were very generous with her, more than
I would have been,” Elliot said to the two.

    
“Perhaps we understand her predicament in
all of this. We don’t believe she was lying to us just now or last night,”
Lathiel said.

    
“Maybe, but she is a Coalition officer.”

    
“And you are an Alliance officer. Should we have reason to
trust one more than the other?” Ranik asked in defense of Nadine.

    
“I guess you have a point. My experience
would say otherwise, though.”

    
“You have spent years in rivalry with this
nation. Are you sure you’re not blinded by your past experiences?” Lathiel
asked.